A content analysis of the Sutherland Address, 2001-22: A qualitative exploration

Previous indicators of scholarly influence have been primarily quantitative, measuring a scholar’s influence through citation counts. This body of literature has overlooked the reflections of distinguished scholars, such as the recipients of the Sutherland Award, in the discipline as a form of scholarly influence. The current paper examines the Sutherland Address from 2001 to 2022. The key findings indicate that the majority of Sutherland Addresses reproduced existing sociological canons, while a minority of Sutherland Award winners explicitly rejected Sutherland’s sociological assumptions and their influence on criminology. Such findings suggest that Sutherland exerts a hidden influence on the recipients of the Sutherland Award in their addresses. There also appears to be a handful of intellectual puzzles that cannot be solved using the conceptual frameworks in criminology. The implications for criminology are discussed

A qualitative analysis of gender inequality in Southeast Missouri law enforcement agencies

Does gender inequality impact the careers of female law enforcement officers in the Southeast Missouri region? Using a qualitative single instrumental case study, seven cis-gendered female law enforcement officers who were employed at local law enforcement agencies within the Southeast Missouri region were interviewed to investigate the central research question. Four themes emerged from the data that illustrated their experiences: sexual exploitation and harassment, a lack of work-life balance, the presence of gender stereotypes, and patriarchal hierarchy and male dominance in the workplace. The findings suggest that the experiences of female law enforcement officers are heavily impacted by the behavior and attitudes of their coworkers and command staff, most of whom are male. Keywords: Southeast Missouri, law enforcement, gender inequality, qualitative case study

A plea for open access to qualitative criminology: With a Python script for anonymizing data and illustrative analysis of error rates

Qualitative researchers are expected, sometimes required, to publish their data open access (OA). This is for the sake of science, impact, and social justice. Yet, understandably, qualitative criminologists are worried about what this means for their workload and their ability to protect subjects’ confidentiality. To be solutions-oriented, we developed an open-source Python script for anonymizing qualitative data. It uses named-entity recognition and fuzzy-rule based merging to identify and replace personally identifiable information (PII) with unique pseudonyms. This tool doesn’t eliminate the need for manual work, but it reduces the cost and associated risk. In this article, we describe and explain how our script works and how to use it. We conclude by discussing the implications for open (qualitative) criminology

From acrimony to forgiveness: How adolescents make sense of childhood maltreatment

This paper examines 16 adolescents’ narratives about the abuse they experienced during childhood. To date, most research examining child abuse (CA) survivorship and recovery has been conducted with adults who look back on their early experiences. Consequently, this study fills gaps in our knowledge by offering a youth-centered view of survivors’ efforts to cope with CA. The data come from a 12-year qualitative study of a group counseling program for high school students in Hawaiʻi. The findings revealed that a minority (n = 2) of the teens had negative views of their lives and futures, while the majority (n = 14) achieved a sense of well-being and life satisfaction. Notably, the 14 optimistic teens diverged in terms of coping mechanisms. Seven developed positive senses of themselves by focusing on their independence and distancing themselves from their abusers, often expressing anger at those who had harmed them. Seven found solace by maintaining a sense of belonging with adults and extending compassion toward abusive parents and others. Overall, these findings reveal a view of survivorship that includes multifaceted endeavors and diverging healing processes

This is not a scam! : Assessment of an awareness raising program tackling older adults\u27 scam victimization in a multi-method study

Interactive theatre has long been used to educate and empower communities and prevent crime across all age groups. Although older populations are disproportionately victimized through fraudulent online schemes, effective educational interventions, like interactive theatre, have not been utilized to increase crime awareness. This paper describes an explorational research project, analyzing the results of a theatre-based fraud awareness program aimed towards educating victims and their communities about scams targeting older people. The study employs a mixed-method research design to examine program impact. In applying multifaceted tools of data collection, such as survey, participant observation, and follow-up interviews, the research team identified program effects, and age-specific appropriateness of the intervention. To close, we synthesized recommendations for program development

To protect and to serve? A phenomenological exploration of interactions between Black transgender women and law enforcement in the Midwest

Current research indicates transgender women of color are experiencing what is being referred to as an “epidemic of violence.” Law enforcement personnel are in a unique position to mitigate this violence among transgender women of color, however past research shows that law enforcement may in some instances perpetuate already existing violence with this population instead of preventing and intervening in these situations. This study aimed to add to the limited research by using an intersectional theoretical framework to better understand these interactions. Research questions were answered using a phenomenological research design. Data from 36 semi-structured interviews with Black transgender women in the Midwest (as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.) about their experiences with law enforcement and what they take away from these experiences were analyzed using an inductive interpretive analysis. Regardless of treatment, transgender women of color wanted to be given fair, humane, and equal treatment as others who identify as cisgender, White, and/or men, and wanted to be shown respect, listened to, felt taken care of, felt tended to, and be taken seriously. The results from this study can be used to inform culturally-responsive police training and policies in working with this population, accountability and reporting of violation of rights, and enhance understanding of health implications of transgender women of color in interacting with police

Fragmented responses: Variability in law enforcement and prosecutorial approaches to sexual assault cases

Sexual assault (SA) remains a pervasive issue in the United States, marked by low reporting rates, inconsistent investigations, and limited convictions. In response, researchers and practitioners have promoted a range of best practices aimed at improving law enforcement and prosecutorial responses. This qualitative study draws on interviews with 13 law enforcement agencies and 12 prosecutors\u27 offices to explore how recommended practices—such as victim advocacy, specialized units, interagency collaboration, and case reviews—are interpreted and operationalized in the field. Findings reveal substantial variability, shaped not only by resource availability but also by leadership priorities, organizational culture, and the ambiguity of guidance documents. Rather than functioning as standardized protocols, best practices are filtered through internal logics, resulting in inconsistent and sometimes superficial implementation. Leadership emerged as a critical determinant of whether reforms were meaningfully enacted. These findings contribute to broader theoretical discussions of institutional discretion, highlighting how implementation is a socially constructed process influenced by perceived legitimacy and organizational norms

Perceptions of legitimacy in three forms of probation supervision for people with serious mental illness

In the context of criminal-legal community supervision, standard and specialized probation officers are often tasked with coordinating services for adults diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI) on their caseloads. The coordination of services varies across different programs including traditional probation, specialty probation, and mental health court. Given the proliferation of programs focused on mental health in the criminal-legal system, the perspectives of front-line workers or street-level bureaucrats in criminal-legal agencies are a rich source of information about what is happening on the ground and could provide insights into the potential translational barriers of policy to practice. A deeper examination of probation officers’ understanding of their own legitimacy in matters related to mental health could be helpful in determining what specific skills and levers are being used on the ground, and the connection between these responses and the purported program. In the criminal-legal system, legitimacy is tied to perceptions of fairness and procedural justice. In contrast to standard probation officers, specialty and mental health probation officers mobilize evidence-based interventions, build therapeutic alliances, and utilize their expertise in service of positive probationer outcomes, but in so doing, they often revert to enforcing compliance through more traditional means such as legal leverage

Online recruitment for interview participants impacted by the criminal legal system

As technology has altered communication, qualitative criminologists have turned to digital spaces for a cost-effective approach to recruit participants who have been impacted by the criminal legal system. This paper analyzes the limits and benefits of online recruitment, detailing our experience recruiting 93 interviewees online for a qualitative study of criminal record expungement. We compare three approaches: social media advertisements, Amazon’s crowdsourced MTurk platform, and the opt-in survey platform Prolific, and analyze the financial and labor costs associated with each. We detail our experience individually screening 685 interested participants to obtain 86 qualitative interviews suitable for analysis. Our experience shows that casting a wide net using more cost-efficient digital advertising often requires intensive manual review and researcher labor, while more costly recruitment platforms, such as Prolific, reduce labor costs but introduce new questions of sample bias. While digital recruitment is a helpful tool for obtaining a broad and diverse set of participants, working online also raises methodological and ethical questions regarding the researcher’s role in verifying the veracity of interviewees\u27 experiences

Aging on parole: A thematic analysis of the parole officer’s perspective

A growing proportion of people leaving prison are over 50 years old and will live at least temporarily under the supervision of a parole officer. While recidivism rates are lower for older people, there are physical, mental, and societal challenges that accompany advancing age that make successful reentry and reintegration a challenging experience compared to their younger counterparts. This presents novel challenges for parole officers who are tasked with supervising and counseling elderly people on parole. Surveys containing closed and open-ended questions were administered to N=25 parole officers to understand the differences in working with, counseling, and supervising older and younger people on parole. Results indicated that parole officers did perceive differences in working with and supervising younger and older people on parole, but there were no differences in counseling strategies. Qualitative analysis of open-ended responses indicated that parole officers perceived older people on parole as requiring more significant assistance with technology and accessing social services. Parole offices also felt older people had better attitudes, greater maturity, and a greater willingness to complete parole successfully. This presents an opportunity for officers and administrators to increase their understanding of issues specific to aging people on parole to increase officer empathy, facilitate easier access to services, and offer age-specific programs to improve reintegration experiences